This says Chekijian in Armenian

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CURRENTLY, there are eleven known living separate Chekijian families around the world with various forms of spelling of the family name due to various dialects, languages and translations.

Below are the names and places of origin of all the known separate Chekijian families, starting with the name of their oldest known ancestors:

1. Krikor Chekijian of Aintab via Caesarea (now in the Americas and the Middle East)
2. Haroutune Chekijian of Caesarea (now in Lebanon & France)
3. Manoog Chekijian – Yerzinga via Istanbul (now in U.S.)
4. Garouj Chekijian – Aintab (now in U.S. & Middle East)
5. Hovannes Chekijian – Istanbul (now in Armenia)
6. Vahram Chekijian – Adana then Istanbul (now in Switzerland)
7. Avedis Chekijian – Aintab then Egypt (now in Middle East, U.S., Canada & Australia)
8. Sarkis Chekijian – Marash, then Jerusalem (now in U.S.)
9. Richard Chekijian – Origin unknown (now in Pennsylvania, U.S.)
10. Calouste Chekijian – Smyrna/Izmir, Turkey (now in Istanbul)
11. Araxi Chekijian - Talas/Caesarea, Cappadocia, Turkey (married Marashlian. Teacher United Armenian School, Baghdad, Iraq 1940-1975)

DNA tests of living male descendants of #1, 2, 4 and 7 did NOT indicate ANY genetic relations to each other.

It might be possible that the DNA of #'s 3, 5 & 6 are related, as all three branches originally came from Istanbul. Also, #1, #2 and #11 could be related, as all come from Caesarea.

The explanation of the name Chekijian translating to “chiropractor” seems to make sense. None of the 11 known Chekijian families with the same name seem to be related to each other, as anyone in chiropractor trade (which apparently was primarily an Armenian specialty) during the Ottoman period were called “chekichi, Cekici or chekiji” and their decendants would have been known as Chekij-Oglu, which in Turkish would be “Son of Chekij”. As a result, it would have been adapted by the Armenian church to Chekijian by Armenian church with an "ian" meaning “son of”, as most of all Armenian family names do.

So, the mystery remains as to the fate of the descendants of the eight other sons (out of the ten) of Hagop Chekijian [1803-1877], (son of Krikor [1776-1841]), who left Caesarea,

Cappadocia (modern day central-southern Turkey) in the 1840s and settled in Aintab where Hagop Chekijian’s two known sons and grandsons lived until 1922.

We only know of the two sons of Hagop (1803-1877):

1. Krikor –. Had two sons, Hagop the elder, who was a shoe manufacturer, moved to Aleppo, Syria in 1922 and then moved to Uruguay by 1930 (died 1935) with his four grown and married sons. Krikor’s younger son Hrand, came to USA in the 1880s, became a Doctor in Cleveland, OH– changed his name to Henry Krikor Emerson and settled in Los Angeles, CA where he practiced medicine until he passed away in 1932 (not sure if he knew that his brother had moved to Uruguay). We don’t know if Krikor had other sons or daughters.

2. Kevork: He had four sons; Hagop, Manoog, Nazaret and Hovannes (portrait of the four brothers is in this website). Hagop, Manoog and Nazaret along with their families moved to Aleppo by 1922. Hovannes (Jonathan in English), died in Aintab, and by 1922, his wife and family moved to Egypt.

Being that the Chekijian yDNA is so unique (Haplogroup J2a4b – Positive M410 and M67 and Negative M163, M289, M327, M340, M68 and M92) with not a single math as yet, in due course, it is possible that genetic matches may surface with other family names (and perhaps non-Armenian nationalities), unraveling the mystery of what became of the eight remaining sons of Hagop Chekijian during his relocation from Caesarea to Aintab in the 1840s.

Note: The Armenian given name Hagop is Jacob in Aramaic, Yagoob in Arabic, James in English, Jacques in French, Jakob in German, Jaime in Portuguese & Diego in Spanish."

- MORE on the sons of KEVORK

- The FIRST Chekijian in the U.S.